The invention relates to a television transmission system capable of transmitting a high-resolution television signal.
One of the most disturbing characteristics of present day television is its inadequate vertical resolution which manifests on large displays by the viewer being able to discern the individual raster lines. Various systems have been proposed having an increased number of vertical scanning lines. However, these systems are not feasible as they require an excessive amount of bandwidth (e.g. 30 MHz.). Other systems have been proposed in which additional lines are transmitted over a separate channel or are generated in the television receiver by interpolation.
All the above systems require an increase in cost allocated to both the broadcaster as well as the consumer. This brings into play the marketing of the new television system. It has been shown that increased resolution alone may not be sufficient to offset the increase in cost of a television receiver to the consumer.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 597,327, filed Apr. 6, 1984, in the name of the subject inventor, which application is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a high-resolution television transmission system which increases the aspect ratio by 33.3%, from a standard ratio of 4:3 to 51/3:3, and increases the number of scanning lines by 50%. For an NTSC compatible system, this results in picture frames having 787 lines which are interlaced in three 90 Hertz fields (the picture frame rate remaining at 30 Hertz). While this system does offer increased vertical resolution, the horizontal resolution remains virtually unchanged thereby resulting in a resolution imbalance.